New Windows 10/Xbox One gaming announcements

[Sigma]

MS held a press event for Windows 10 just now. Here's some of the main stuff that will interest gamers: -

Firstly, the upgrade to Windows 10 will be free for all Windows 7, Windows 8.x and Windows Phone 8.x users, provided they upgrade within the first year of Windows 10's release. There was speculation that it would be a free upgrade for Windows 8.x users, but now it's confirmed and it includes Windows 7 users as well.

There will be cross-platform play between Xbox and PC users on Windows 10. They showed off a live demo of Fable Legends (which is releasing for Windows and Xbox One), where two people were playing co-op and one player was playing on an Xbox and the other was playing on a PC.

You will be able to stream Xbox One games/apps to any Windows 10 device, so you would be able to play Forza Horizon 2 on a Windows 10 tablet while lying in bed, for example.

Windows 10 will support universal apps, so you will be able to write one app that will run across devices - PCs, tablets, phones and the Xbox One. I suspect that that will make a big difference to the number of apps that get released on the Xbox.

The Game DVR feature for Xbox One will be built into Windows 10 and will work with any game. They showed a demo where they launched a game on Steam, played it for a little while, then captured the last 30 seconds of gameplay, just like you can do on an Xbox One. That clip can then be shared to various services.

There's a new Xbox app included on all Windows 10 devices. It looked kinda like an improved version of the existing SmartGlass app for Windows. It allows you to do cross platform voice and text messaging, so you can chat to a friend playing on an Xbox while you're on your PC, for example. It also includes PC gaming content, so the activity feed will show what Windows games you've been playing and clips you record with the Game DVR on Windows will appear there and can be seen by all of your friends on Xbox.

DirectX 12 will offer performance increases of up to 50%. They showed a demo of a 3D landscape that became increasingly complex being run on 2 machines - one running DirectX 11 and one running DirectX 12. As the landscape became more complex, the DirectX 11 machine started to struggle and the framerate dropped and dropped, while the DirectX 12 machine continued to run things smoothly. From what I've read, it has the potential to make a huge difference, although obviously it will require developers to code specifically for DirectX 12. Offering free upgrades of Windows 10 will help with that. Unreal Engine 4 already supports DirectX 12, but they announced today that Unity will be another engine that will support it, so that will help too. On the mobile side, DirectX 12 can reduce battery consumption while gaming by up to 50%. The Xbox One supports DirectX 12, so further down the line performance gains will be seen there too.

Oh yeah, and there's this.....



I'll wait until I can post a video for that though.

On the whole, Windows 10 looks great IMO!

[Sigma]

A promo video for the AR goggles shown above: -



There will be a live demo of a VR version of Minecraft that people can play at the press event.

They did some real time demos at today's press event, so I'll upload videos when some appear on YouTube.

EDIT - Live demo: -



Exclusive hands on: -

http://www.wired.com/2015/01/microsoft-hands-on/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ThaJim2]

A lot of cool shit today. About time on having a first class office on the Windows Phone. I want to like the VR shit but it just looks too heavy.

[Hush]

I am interested to see how well the game streaming > tablet works as I received a Surface Pro 3 for Xmas.

[Sigma]

They're also working on streaming the other way, so PC games ---> Xbox One.

What do you think of the Surface Pro 3, Hush?

[Hush]

^^^

It's pretty dope. I got the mid-range one with 128GB / Intel i5. It has become my primary computing device. I like that the Pro is basically a full Windows 8 (soon to be 10) machine meaning you have full control over the operating system just like a normal desktop or laptop PC (though with somewhat limited storage). I haven't messed with too many of the Windows store apps besides what comes pre-installed.

I installed Steam and all the "Humble Indie Bundle" type games that aren't too demanding play perfectly. XCOM: Enemy Within plays and looks just as good (if not better) than the 360 version with all the settings on low and resolution at 720p. I bought a mini-Displayport to HDMI cable and have been using that to hook it to my TV and play XCOM with a 360 controller. It also runs some games on Dolphin (a Wii/Gamecube emulator) pretty well.

I've also been playing Hearthstone using the touch screen and that works flawlessly. The kickstand is nice even if you aren't using the keyboard because you can prop it up on your lap which frees your other hand from having to hold it up.

[Tired & Broke]

^^^

It's pretty dope. I got the mid-range one with 128GB / Intel i5. It has become my primary computing device. I like that the Pro is basically a full Windows 8 (soon to be 10) machine meaning you have full control over the operating system just like a normal desktop or laptop PC (though with somewhat limited storage). I haven't messed with too many of the Windows store apps besides what comes pre-installed.

I installed Steam and all the "Humble Indie Bundle" type games that aren't too demanding play perfectly. XCOM: Enemy Within plays and looks just as good (if not better) than the 360 version with all the settings on low and resolution at 720p. I bought a mini-Displayport to HDMI cable and have been using that to hook it to my TV and play XCOM with a 360 controller. It also runs some games on Dolphin (a Wii/Gamecube emulator) pretty well.

I've also been playing Hearthstone using the touch screen and that works flawlessly. The kickstand is nice even if you aren't using the keyboard because you can prop it up on your lap which frees your other hand from having to hold it up.

Sounds like the Surface 3 is an investment I need to make.

[Hush]

^^^

It's pretty dope. I got the mid-range one with 128GB / Intel i5. It has become my primary computing device. I like that the Pro is basically a full Windows 8 (soon to be 10) machine meaning you have full control over the operating system just like a normal desktop or laptop PC (though with somewhat limited storage). I haven't messed with too many of the Windows store apps besides what comes pre-installed.

I installed Steam and all the "Humble Indie Bundle" type games that aren't too demanding play perfectly. XCOM: Enemy Within plays and looks just as good (if not better) than the 360 version with all the settings on low and resolution at 720p. I bought a mini-Displayport to HDMI cable and have been using that to hook it to my TV and play XCOM with a 360 controller. It also runs some games on Dolphin (a Wii/Gamecube emulator) pretty well.

I've also been playing Hearthstone using the touch screen and that works flawlessly. The kickstand is nice even if you aren't using the keyboard because you can prop it up on your lap which frees your other hand from having to hold it up.

Sounds like the Surface 3 is an investment I need to make.

I really do think it offers the best of both worlds (tablet/laptop).

[Sigma]

I wonder if they'll do a Surface Pro 4. With the new Intel chips, they should be able to make a fanless version, which would make it even thinner and silent.